Lockheed Martin delivers new production ATACMS missile

Lockheed Martin has delivered the first Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missile to the U.S. Army from the new production facility in Camden, Arkansas, the company said in a statement.

Lockheed Martin is under contract to deliver 124 new ATACMS missiles to the U.S. Army and an international customer. The program is in full-rate production at Lockheed Martin’s Precision Fires Production Center of Excellence in Camden.

Concurrent with production efforts, Lockheed Martin is nearing completion of a development contract with the U.S. Army that further enhances existing ATACMS missiles. The modifications include upgrades to the missile electronics, and complete the qualification of a height-of-burst proximity sensor, which provides increased area effects on targets.

“ATACMS has demonstrated unparalleled system performance and reliability for our customers,” said Scott Greene, vice president of Precision Fires at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “These latest ATACMS rounds will support Army readiness, and provide a critical new precision engagement capability to our international customers.”

About ATACMS:

MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATacMS) is a surface-to-surface missile (SSM) manufactured by Lockheed Martin. It has a range of over 160 kilometres (100 mi), with solid propellant, and is 4.0 metres (13 ft) high and 610 millimetres (24 in) in diameter.

It is the U.S. Army’s only tactical long-range, deep precision-strike surface-to-surface weapon system.

The missile can be fired from multiple rocket launchers, including the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS), and M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). Each missile is packaged in a Guided Missile Launch Assembly pod. The launch container has a lid patterned with six circles like a standard MLRS rocket lid.

Lockheed Martin has produced more than 3,800 ATACMS missiles, with more than 20 years of on-time deliveries. More than 600 of them have been fired in combat, and the system has demonstrated extremely high rates of accuracy and reliability while in theater.

The first use of the system in a combat capability was during Operation Desert Storm, where a total of 32 were fired from the M270 MLRS. During the Operation Iraqi Freedom more than 450 missiles were fired.